Some of my wife’s fondest childhood memories involve Girl Scouts. Her mother was the troop leader and those girls did all kinds of things: pottery, camping, summer camp, horseback riding, tours, and they earned badges.
The best part about the badges is that the girls got to try new things that they would not have done before. My wife says it was all about building leadership, a skill which has benefited her well during her career.
And so we continue this wonderful experience with a new generation, hoping to build her self-esteem and drive the way it built my wife’s. My daughter had a choice about Girl Scouts and she decided that she wanted to try it. Our troop doesn’t use uniforms, but they do still wear the vests. They can opt for the sash, but who would want a sash. There’s nowhere near enough room to put all those badges on a sash.
She joined and they handed her a Girl Scout Cookie form. It’s that time of year and so I am getting a first hand look at selling cookies. A girl has to sell 50 boxes in order to earn a badge. I don’t know what other families do, but our daughter is the one who sells the cookies. We help her, of course, but she talks to the customers (be they family or friends) and she sells them. We could do it for her I guess, and she could get a badge, but that would defeat the purpose of the badge and steal from my daughter, the ability to earn something on her own. We are about 15 boxes away from the 50 required to earn the badge.
Why do the children sell the cookies? There are several reasons. It raises money for them to take field trips, tours and participate in other events. Besides the obvious, they are also learn a great deal:
The best part about the badges is that the girls got to try new things that they would not have done before. My wife says it was all about building leadership, a skill which has benefited her well during her career.
And so we continue this wonderful experience with a new generation, hoping to build her self-esteem and drive the way it built my wife’s. My daughter had a choice about Girl Scouts and she decided that she wanted to try it. Our troop doesn’t use uniforms, but they do still wear the vests. They can opt for the sash, but who would want a sash. There’s nowhere near enough room to put all those badges on a sash.
She joined and they handed her a Girl Scout Cookie form. It’s that time of year and so I am getting a first hand look at selling cookies. A girl has to sell 50 boxes in order to earn a badge. I don’t know what other families do, but our daughter is the one who sells the cookies. We help her, of course, but she talks to the customers (be they family or friends) and she sells them. We could do it for her I guess, and she could get a badge, but that would defeat the purpose of the badge and steal from my daughter, the ability to earn something on her own. We are about 15 boxes away from the 50 required to earn the badge.
Why do the children sell the cookies? There are several reasons. It raises money for them to take field trips, tours and participate in other events. Besides the obvious, they are also learn a great deal:
- Social Skills
- Planning
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Finance
- Goal Setting
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